Lyrics analysis

For our chosen song we have to do a lyrics analysis and this will help us gather ideas about the style of video we could do and help us think about what to base the video around and whether we want there to be elements of the song within the video or something completely different.

 

Whenever I'm dressed cool my parents put up a fight
And if I'm hot shot, mom will cut my hair at night
And in the morning I'm short of my identity
I scream, "Mom and dad, why can't I be who I wanna be, to be?"

 

This verse is about her wanting to be the person that she is and her parents don't like it- she tries her best to look nice but her parents always start an argument. She loses confidence and feels like she has lost her identity and just wants to be herself

 

I just wanna be myself and I want you to love
Me for who I am
I just wanna be myself and I want you to know
I am my hair

 

Here, she is talking about a similar sort of thing and just wants to be loved for who she is, so far this video has quite a depressive, negative side to it so I will have to think about how I will film it to put across this mood

 

I've had enough, this is my prayer
That I'll die livin' just as free as my hair
I've had enough, this is my prayer
That I'll die livin' just as free as my hair

 

She prays for what she wants in life and that is to be herself, nothing more, and she's had enough now so she says 'this is my prayer' in the hope that what she wants to happen will happen, and in this case it's about dying as free as her hair

 

I've had enough, I'm not a freak
I just keep fightin' to stay cool on the streets
I've had enough, enough, enough
And this is my prayer, I swear

 

These lyrics are all about an argument that she has with her parents about who she is and they don't like it and she tries to explain 'she's not a freak' but it's got to the point where she's had to fight to not be judged on the streets and she can't be the person she wants to be- there is a lot of repetition to reinforce her emotion and how strongly she feels about her being fed up

 

I'm as free as my hair
I'm as free as my hair
I am my hair
I am my hair

 

She talks about her hair being free because you can let your hair loose and you feel that element of freedom like nothing can get in the way and this is how she feels- in my video I would like to use someone with long hair and use the wind effect so it looks free to emphasise the feelings in the video

 

Sometimes I want some raccoon or red highlights
Just because I want my friends to think I'm dynamite
And on Friday, Rock City High School dance
I've got my bangs to hide that I don't stand a chance, a chance

 

I interpreted this part of the lyrics like she thinks about changing her image slightly so that her mum and dad accept her more and she wants to go a bit wild and be a bit different but it sort of sounds like it could just be a saying

 

I just want to be free, I just want to be me
And I want lots of friends that invite me to their parties
Don't want to change and I don't want to be ashamed
I'm the spirit of my hair, it's all the glory that I bear

 

Here she goes back to saying 'I just want to be me' and that she doesn't really intend to change because it's who she is, but she says what she wants ideally and that is to have lots of friends and be popular